Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Three women were killed and another person injured on Monday, September 28, 2026, when gunmen attacked a mining site in Rakum community, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State. The attackers stormed the site at about 4:30 p.m., opened fire on the workers, and fled before security personnel could arrive. The victims were women who had been working at the mining site, carrying out legitimate economic activity in a region where mining has become a flashpoint for violence.
The Berom Youth Moulders-Association confirmed the attack. Its National Publicity Secretary, Rwang Tengwong, said the gunmen opened fire on the workers without provocation, killing three women and injuring another. “This is another sad development that has further heightened concerns over the safety of people working and living in the area,” Tengwong said. He called on security operatives to immediately go after the perpetrators and ensure that those responsible are arrested and brought to justice. A member of the affected community, John Silas, also confirmed the incident. He said the attackers came to the mining site and opened fire on the people there, killing three women and injuring another person. “We are deeply worried because people should be able to go about their legitimate businesses without being attacked,” Silas said. He appealed to security agencies to intensify efforts to track down the attackers and prevent further attacks in the community.
The attack occurred just hours before the 6 p.m. curfew imposed by the Plateau State Government in Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu Local Government Areas. The curfew was introduced on September 21, 2026, after renewed violence in the three LGAs, and it prohibits movement between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.. The fact that the attack happened in the late afternoon, before the curfew took effect, underscores a troubling reality: armed groups in Plateau State are not deterred by the curfew. They are operating with impunity, striking at will, and leaving communities to bury their dead.
The attack on Rakum is the latest in a grim pattern of violence targeting mining sites across Plateau State. On September 26, five miners were killed and two others injured when gunmen ambushed them at a mining site in Marit village, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area. The attack occurred despite the curfew and despite a statewide ban on mining after 5 p.m. imposed by Governor Caleb Mutfwang in May 2026. On September 23, two miners were killed at a mining site in Kworos Gangare, Barkin Ladi. On the same day, farmlands were destroyed in Jol, Riyom, and two people were killed at Nghar, Exland. On September 24, three community members were killed at Gassa, Barkin Ladi. The Berom Youth Moulders-Association has repeatedly expressed alarm that these attacks continue despite the curfew, warning that the security measures imposed by the government are not working.
The mining sites of Plateau State have become a new front line in the conflict that has devastated the region for years. What was once a largely agrarian conflict has expanded to include the mineral-rich areas of Barkin Ladi, where artisanal miners, many of them women, work to earn a living from tin, columbite, and other minerals. These miners are not combatants. They are mothers, traders, and farmers supplementing their income in a harsh economic environment. Yet they are being killed with impunity, their deaths adding to the toll of a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands across Plateau State and the wider Middle Belt.
The Nigerian Bar Association in Plateau State has accused terrorists of openly attacking communities observing government-imposed curfews, describing the situation as “an invitation to total anarchy and complete breakdown of law and order”. The NBA’s intervention followed a series of attacks that left dozens dead in Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Bokkos Local Government Areas. The association noted that some community vigilantes in Kikyo village, Mangu, were killed at their duty post by terrorists during curfew hours, and that similar attacks were reported in Kantoma and Bin-Per villages in Mangu, as well as Kasa village, Wereh village, Ropp, Fan and Marit Districts in Barkin Ladi.
Amnesty International has also condemned the violence, saying the security measures President Bola Tinubu claims to be implementing are not working. The organisation warned that the consistent failure of the authorities to bring the actual suspected perpetrators to justice is emboldening impunity. The Plateau State Government has repeatedly urged residents to remain calm and law-abiding, assuring that it is working with security agencies to protect lives and property. But for the families of the women killed in Rakum, those assurances ring hollow. Three women went to work on Monday afternoon. They did not come home. Their killers fled into the bush, and the security agencies that were supposed to protect them arrived after the damage was done.
The attack on Rakum mining site is a stark reminder that the violence in Plateau State is not confined to any single community or any single time of day. It happens in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening. It happens before curfew and during curfew. It happens in markets, in farms, in churches, in mosques, and now, once again, at mining sites. The women who died in Rakum were not caught in crossfire. They were targeted. They were killed because they were working, because they were earning a living, because they were in a place where armed men believed they could strike without consequence.
As of the time of this report, the Plateau State Police Command had not issued an official statement on the Rakum attack. The military had also not commented. The identities of the deceased women have not been disclosed. Their families are left to mourn, and the community of Rakum is left to wonder whether anyone will ever be held accountable. For the people of Plateau State, the question is no longer whether another attack will happen. It is when, and who will be next. The women of Rakum are the latest names on a list of victims that continues to grow, and the government’s response remains measured in press releases and curfews that the killers ignore. Until the perpetrators are arrested and prosecuted, and until the state demonstrates that it can protect its citizens, the mining sites of Plateau will remain what they have become: killing fields.
📩 Stone Reporters News | 🌍 stonereportersnews.com
✉️ info@stonereportersnews.com | 📘 Facebook: Stone Reporters News | 🐦 X (Twitter): @StoneReportNew | 📸 Instagram: @stonereportersnews
Add comment
Comments